I finally created a blog! I will try to post updates from my life here in Nicaragua with the Peace Corps. For specific questions you can e-mail me at kyndra04@gmail.com. It's been three months since I left the U.S. here's a quick recap:
I arrived in Managua, Nicaragua on May 13 with 35 others, 17 of us in the sector of agriculture and 19 in small business. After three days of orientation I went to live with my host family in the department (like counties or states) of Masaya. Training for Peace Corps lasts three months and consists of language, culture, health & safety and technical training. Each week I spent 18-30 hours in Spanish class and attended presentations or charlas over the other topics. Outside of class each training town (4 trainees grouped based upon language ability) needed to form a youth group, give several charlas in Spanish, and maintain a garden and tree nursery. With our youth group we had to commercialize a product and present the results in an agricultural fair during the tenth week of training. Our group made an all natural soda or gaseosa, as they are referred to here, from ginger, cane, pineapple and lemon juice, lemon grass, and sugar. The members of our group named the product Ganaca for a gaseosa natural de Campos Azules, the name of our community. In the competition we received third place out of ten. We were all very proud of the effort and work that our kids put into the product and it was a fun experience.
During training I had to adjust to a new way of life. New food, new language and new customs. Food- mostly rice and beans. But my host mom was an excellent cook and my only problem was actually being overfed. The Spanish is still a battle. It has definitely improved but I'm still struggling at times which can be frustrating. I also have a new found tolerance for creepy crawlies. I killed my very own hand sized spider which before would have paralyzed me. Haven't developed such tolerance that I'll actually allow anything I see to live though. I battled through a bout of food poisoning and kicked a mouse out of my bed. I even skinned and gutted a rabbit. All in all it was an interesting three months.

On July 31st, Nica 50 (our "class") swore in as official Peace Corps volunteers in Managua. We were in Manauga for a few days prior as well, during which we enjoyed a few creature comforts we had been lacking such as hot showers, wireless, and the use of a pool. A few of us even went to the movies to see the new Harry Potter (in English!). It was a nice break from the campo, but after a few days I was excited to go to my site. I arrived at my site in the department of Jinotega last week. For the first three months we are encouraged to simply try to meet people in the community, try to improve our language if we need to, and adjust to our new lives as PCVs. My site is in a valley of a beautiful green mountain range. It's located in cattle country so obviously there are plenty of cows and horses. The main crops are corn and beans but we are close to coffee country which means that I now receive real coffee instead of instant. That's all for now, if you have questions don't hesitate to ask!